Discover

The 'World Mission Society Church of God' (in Korean, 하나님의교회 세계복음선교협회) was founded by Ahnsahnghong in 1964, when he left the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The church believes that he (referred to by his followers as Christ Ahnsahnghong) is the second coming of Jesus. In 1981 Ahnsahnghong was quoted by a religious magazine in Korea, stating that the prophetical King David must come to preach the gospel for the remaining 37 years of the 40 year prophetical reign of King David. Ahnsahnghong died in 1985, exactly 37 years after he was baptized in 1948. Today the leader of the church is Zahng Gil Jah, known to followers as the Heavenly Mother, and the General Pastor is Kim Joo-cheol. Zahng Gil Jah usually appears in public wearing a traditional Korean hanbok. Over 70 percent of followers are women and Korean Americans are increasingly found among the new adherents. Its main office is located in Bundang, Sungnam City, Kyunggi Province, roughly an hour away from Seoul.^[1]
Within South Korea, and elsewhere proselytizers introduce themselves (to foreigners) by asking whether the individual has heard of the Mother's love, or of the Heavenly Mother. The church believes that Korean resident Gil-Jah Zahng is "God the Mother" (who they believe is referred to in the Bible as the New Jerusalem Mother) as well as that Ahnsahnghong is God the Father. The church regards that the earthly family system is a copy and shadow of the heavenly family system, consisting of a heavenly Father, heavenly Mother, and the spiritual brothers and sisters (humans). Members believe that as physical life is given by a physical mother, spiritual life (eternal life) is given by a Heavenly Mother.

Contents

Core Beliefs

Sabbath

Soul

Baptism

Veil

Other beliefs

Activities

Criticism

Deviations from the Seventh-day Adventist Church

References

External links

Core Beliefs

The fundamental belief held by the church is that the Passover of New Covenant is the way to salvation. They believe that it is prophesied in the Bible that second coming Christ will come and restore the Passover of the New Covenant. They believe Ahnsahnghong is the one who has come to fulfill prophecy. Other core beliefs include:

Sabbath

The church believes that the Sabbath day was established by God to be Saturday and that it is a day set apart to commemorate God as Creator. They argue that Jesus kept the sabbath and established "the Sabbath of Jesus" (Matt. 12:8; Luke 6:5) as the completion of "the Sabbath of Jehovah" (Ex. 31:13; Ezek. 20:12) and that the Sabbath was changed to Sunday by the emperor Constantine and the influence of Roman sun-god worshipers.^[2]

Soul

Ahnsahnghong taught that "all men are angels who have come to the earth after sinning in heaven."^[3] The Church believes that the Spirit was revealed through the creation of human beings. They draw these beliefs from their interpretation of Genesis 2:7, and Ecclesiastes 12:7. They believe that the body is the temporal home of the Spirit, or the soul.^[4]

Baptism

The World Mission Society Church of God holds that baptism is the first step toward salvation. They believe that baptism is a law of the new covenant and that it cleanses the soul and atones for the believer's sin. Followers are baptized in the name of Ahnsanghong, and the church believes that salvation cannot be obtained without baptism. According to the church, wisdom to recognize God cannot be given without the forgiveness of sin preceeding it. Therefore, they believe that a person should be baptized before beginning religious study.^[5]

Veil

The church requires all women to wear veils (or Christian Headcovering) according to the teachings of Second Coming Christ Ahnsahnghong. The church quotes Matthew 22:1-14 as a regulation given to represent God's authority. Men are not to have their heads covered and women are to wear veils to keep this commandment.^[6]

Other beliefs

The church holds "the three 'R' movements": “Restore the Faith of the Early Church”, “Restore the Truth of the Early Church”, and “Redeem the Whole World”, as stated by the Chief Pastor Joo-Cheol Kim. The members pray in the name of Ahnsahnghong, whom they believe was the Second Coming of Christ. The church celebrates the seven appointed feasts of God (Leviticus 23); Passover, Unleavened Bread, First fruits, Feast of Weeks, Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Feast of Tabernacles. The church keeps the seventh Sabbath Day each Saturday by holding worship services at the appointed times of 9 in the morning and 3 in the afternoon. During worship services the brothers keep their hair uncovered and sisters cover their hair with a thin tailored garment believing this to be the practice handed down to Apostle Paul from Jesus of Nazareth as written in 1 Corinthians chapter 11.

Activities

The Church claims to have established approximately 400 branch churches in Korea and 120 churches in other countries totaling 820,000 members as of 2007.^[7] However, a UCLA professor of Korean Christianity noted that information provided by the Church of God concerning the number of followers and congregations is "unreliable".^[1] The Church is also active in many volunteer services and welfare activities throughout the world.

Criticism

The World Mission Society Church of God is widely believed to be a cult, by those outside of the organization due its deviation from traditional Christian beliefs.^[9]


The Christian Council of Korea, which represents Protestant churches in the country, has declared the Church of God "heresy".^[1] The chuch argues that this allegation is "groundless", with a court case going as far as the Korean Supreme Court clearing their name of the specific charges.^[11] Other Christian denominations in Korea allege the Church "worships a man," mistreats minors, and destroys families.^[1][11] The Church has been accused of breaking up families when women followers have left home and settled in Church of God buildings to await the "coming of Christ". ^[1] Shortly after these accusations, the church began its widespread community service activities, which have earned them the commendation of the government of Korea.

Deviations from the Seventh-day Adventist Church

The World Mission Society Church of God retained some characteristics of the Seventh-day Adventist movement, such as meeting on Saturdays, not celebrating Christmas. Conversely, many of the church's claims deviate from the Seventh-day church, such as their proclamation of Ahnsahnghong as Jesus, their belief in a Holy Mother as equal to God the Father, and their view that the Christian cross and the Virgin Mary are a symbols of idolatry.

References

1. Korea: The Church of God
2. Sabbath
3. Soul
4. Soul
5. Baptism
6. Veil
7. World Mission Society Church of God Gangnam-gu Poi-dong
8. Korea: The Church of God
9. The World Mission Society Church of God Stuart Reid
10. Korea: The Church of God
11. http://english.watv.org/news/news174.html
12. Korea: The Church of God
13. http://english.watv.org/news/news174.html
14. Korea: The Church of God

External links

★ World Mission Society Church of God - Official website (English)

★ World Mission Society Church of God - Church's USA Recruitment website

★ http://www.ahnsahnghong.info/ - Website run by ex-members from England and Korea.